The county men are bracing themselves to ride against the pros for eight days in the An Post Rás. But what do they really go through? (Photo: George Doyle)
By Paddy Doran & Beth McCluskey
The men of the An Post Ras 2016; in a blur of colour and speed nearly 200 cyclists will fly around Ireland for eight days.
They will begin tomorrow, Sunday, May 22nd, in Dublin and finish in Skerries on Sunday eight days later.
Tough Cycling uphills
They will cycle up steep hills where enormous strength and endurance is required to get to the top. Then dive over the top and race down the other side faster than most cars or motor bikes can get down the hills and through the corners.
They’ll fly along the flat roads when the wind is behind them and struggle in the gutters looking for shelter from the rider in front of them when the wind blows from the side.
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They will sprint for points at the primes along the route to the finish and be cheered by thousands of people whose day they brighten up in a flash of colour and speed.
Then they will sprint like crazy for the An Rás Post finish line banner to be hailed by the commentator as Men Of The Rás.
High Speed cycling on the flat
What do these mighty people need to go through to get around and reach the finish in Skerries next Sunday? What are the statistics of a Ras performance?
Obviously because of each rider’s basic ability, training and racing history the performances and demands will differ for each individual.
However at Peak Endurance Coaching we thought it might be interesting to look at some of the statistics.
These are based on an average size rider in the field so let’s call him Jimmy Average. We have based it on the medium estimated stage time for each day.
We will look at
- How many hours he will cycle
- How many pedal revolutions he must do
- The number of heart beats for the 8 stages
- The number of calories he must consume to fuel the 8 stages and his basic daily requirements.
Number of Hours cycling:
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31.5 hours based on estimated finishing stage times.
This really underlines the importance of being comfortable on the bike and really loving your cycling.
Cadence
This is the number of pedal revolutions per minute (RPM) and the average is usually around 90 RPM so for Jimmy’s week it will be 170,100 revolutions of the pedals.
This number highlights the importance of having a good bike setup and good quad balance for knees.
Heart rate
A lot of these riders will have resting heart rates between 40-50 beats per minutes but during stages the heart rates might be raised to as high as 200 BPM for some riders when the pressure is really on.
Based on an average of 150 beats per minute per stage Jimmy will use 283,500 Heart Beats for all the stages.. These are just for the stages and don’t include heart beats for the rest of the day.
The BPM stats show how important recovery and relaxation is between the stages
Calories
Jimmy has to fuel the effort of flat out racing for hours each stage.
If he neglects this he will very soon be listening to the Birds whistling on quiet country roads as he cycles alone miles behind the Ras Bunch.
He will use 39,650 calories to get around the An Post Ras with the peloton.
The An Post Ras is as much an eating competition as cycling competition. Think formula one car with top fuel versus the battered car with the black smoke streaming from the exhaust
So our hypothetical Jimmy and the rest of the field truly deserves the accolade of a Man Of The Rás as they arrive in Skerries next Sunday.
Enjoy the Week
Paddy Doran Cycling Coach and Tutor www.peakendurancecoaching.ie
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